The Way To Greatness
by FredWisnotdead
Summary: Harry Potter discovers at the age of ten that he is not a normal kid. He seems to have powers; powers his Aunt and Uncle fear, and that he doesn't quite understand. Will his new-found powers corrupt him? Dark!Harry.Yay Chapter 2 is up!
1. The Way to Greatness

AN: For those of you who read my last story; I know I said I was going to write a LOTR fanfic, but an Idea popped into my head and I loved it. I promise that for this story, I will see it through to the end.

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**Chapter 1**

Harry Potter hated everything. He hated his life; he hated the students who were too weak to stand up to Dudley, his cousin, and be his friend. He hated the teachers who looked the other way when Dudley and his gang beat him up. He hated his Aunt and Uncle who treated him worse than crap and abused him mentally everyday. But most of all, he hated his cousin, who made sure Harry had no friends. If he had just one friend, someone to talk to and get along with he would be happy. He expected no change after ten years, however, and was close to accepting that he would never have any friends, and would always get beaten up. He was, in fact, being beaten up by Dudley and his gang at the moment.

He curled himself into a ball, as he had learned to, to lessen the blows, but it did little good. Bored of him, the gang lessened the blows. They left after Dudley gave one last swift kick to Harry's ribs, laughing and joking. Harry looked up at Dudley, his hatred showing in his eyes. Dudley saw the look, smirked, and returned a look of his that clearly said '_do something about it_.' Harry broke eye contact as he lowered his head because he knew there was nothing he could do. He heard Dudley laugh at his weakness and knew his cousin was right; he was weak. He looked up at Dudley. If only he was stronger, he would make Dudley feel the pain that he had felt all these years. He wanted so badly for this to happen and with a crash; Dudley fell to the ground, howling in what seemed like unbearable pain. His friends backed away, scared, several started to call for a teacher. Harry stared at his cousin, his eyes wide. Could it be? Had he done this? No, it was impossible; Dudley was probably just faking for attention, and yet…

His train of thought was broken as the school nurse, ignoring the bruised and battered Harry, and ran towards the child with no sign of injury and could very well have been faking. Dudley had stopped screaming, but was still lying on the floor and was sobbing uncontrollably. He watched as the Nurse looked at his body, looking for the source of the boy's pain. When she found none she asked him, "Where are you hurt?"

Dudley managed to choke out, "All over."

A bit confused the nurse asked Dudley, "Well where did the pain start?"

"Everywhere," Dudley told her.

She had never seen anything like this before and told him that he would be going home early. Harry was still on the ground, looking at his cousin. His thoughts had been confirmed, Dudley had indeed been faking to go home early. He was disappointed for two reasons. The first was that he still had no power; the second was that Dudley's pain wasn't real. Harry shakily got to his feet. He heard Dudley's gang talk about how smart he was to find an excuse to leave school early. Suddenly remembering what time it was Harry realized that Dudley might not have been pretending. They were all leaving in five minutes anyway. Hope shoved its way into Harry. It could still be a coincidence, but if it wasn't that meant that Harry had powers. He couldn't help but smile.

The smile stayed on his lips even when his Aunt and Uncle came to pick up Dudley and completely ignored him. He watched as they brooded over Dudley. He saw Dudley talking to them and then point at Harry. Vernon looked up at him. Harry tried to hide his smile the best he could, but it was too late. Vernon rushed over to him surprisingly quick, despite his girth. He grabbed Harry's shoulder and leaned his face in so it was right in front of Harry's and said, "So you think it's funny do you? That your cousin was hurt?"

"N-no, sir," Harry stuttered, scared by his uncle's face. He ignored Harry's response as he pulled Harry, rather roughly, by his arm to the car. Harry was confused as to why he was being brought home as well. He had expected to be told to walk home as punishment. He was shoved into the car next to a still slightly sobbing Dudley. He saw his Aunt Petunia look confusedly at Vernon. His Uncle whispered in her ear. Her eyes opened wide and her head snapped towards Harry. The look had fear and hatred mixed together in it. Harry looked down at his feet; he knew he was going to get it when they got home. The ride to the house was uneventful and silent as tension filled the air and was thick enough to cut with a knife. After what seemed like hours they finally got to Privet Drive. Petunia hugged Dudley around the shoulders and guided him towards to the house. Vernon was guiding Harry with his hand on Harry's back, only because there were people watching. Harry knew there would be hell to pay when he entered the house. He didn't know why, but he could tell from how hard his uncle was pushing him that he was very angry. He tried to walk as slow as possible, but was only pushed harder. He entered the house in time to hear his aunt telling Dudley that he should go take a nap. Vernon closed the door and immediately reeled around to face Harry. He took slow steps towards Harry, his face purple. Harry was terrified. He closed his eyes and wished he were any where else but here. He opened his eyes to find his uncle, once again, in his face.

"What. Did you do, TO MY BOY?!" he screamed in Harry's face.

"I-I swear, one second he was laughing, and the next he was on the floor. I didn't do anything."

Harry was incredibly confused. Why would his uncle think he hurt Dudley? There was nothing pointing to that.

Vernon seemed to realize this as he opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs. He looked at Harry and roared, "Get in there, boy. NOW!"

Harry followed the order without thought. He only knew that he had never seen his Uncle like this and he didn't know what would happen if he refused, not that he ever would. He heard his uncle slam the door behind him. Harry lay down on his bed, his mind reeling. Why did his uncle think he did it? Was it because he had been smiling when they came to pick up Dudley? No, that wasn't enough to go on. They must know something he didn't. Harry sighed. If they did, he would be the last to find out. Was he right to think he had powers? He tried to think back to all the times he had done things he couldn't explain. There were only two other instances; the first was when he had gotten a bad haircut and was going to be forced to go to school with it the next day. When he woken up he found out that his hair had grown back. When he told his aunt and uncle, they had given him a thrashing. Another time was when he was running from Dudley and his gang when he suddenly found himself on the roof of the school, and had gotten a beating for his troubles. Both times had had no idea how the event had occurred. He only knew that he was wishing that his hair would grow back, or that he was somewhere where Dudley couldn't get him… or that Dudley felt his pain. Harry thought, the pieces falling together. It all made sense now; every time he wished something would happen, it did. Harry was giddy and excited.

He decided to test it out; he wished he had a chocolate cake and closed his eyes. He opened them, ready to eat, but was disappointed when he saw no cake, not that he could see very well. He wished he had light. However, no light came. Suddenly he heard mumbling coming from the kitchen. He went up to the door of the cupboard and put his ear against it, but it didn't help. They were probably talking about him; and he had to know why. He pushed on the door, to see if it was looked, which it probably was. To his surprise it opened. He winced as is squeaked, but heard that the conversation was still going, he opened the door only as wide as he needed to, and went out. He sneaked, quietly and slowly towards the doorway of the kitchen, and hid behind it.

"…thought we had beaten it out of him," he heard his Aunt say.

"He's getting to be too dangerous. It was bad enough when he was just using it to help himself, but now he's using it on Dudley, to hurt him. We've got no choice but to kick him out," his Uncle said, harshly.

"No," said his Aunt, and for a second he thought maybe someone did care about him, until she said, "Then we won't receive the money from _their_ bank. And then how will we pay for all of Dudley's toys?" Harry slowly walked back towards the cupboard, furious. They were getting payed to take care of him, and yet they claimed he was a freeloader and good-for-nothing. A realization dawned on him as he entered his room. They had said that he was getting too dangerous. That could only mean that he had, in fact, been the one who had hurt Dudley. But more importantly, it meant he had powers.

Harry was more than ecstatic; this meant he was special, and better than his damn cousin. He was probably better than most people. He was like one of those super heroes he had read about in one of Dudley's comics. Speaking of witch, he felt like reading one right now. He left his cupboard and went up to Dudley's room. He opened it to reveal a sleeping Dudley. Harry crept towards his cousin and leaned in next to his ear, "Wake up!" he yelled, loud enough to startle Dudley but not enough to alert the adults.

Dudley sat up and fell out of his bed. When he saw Harry laughing at him he glared at him and snarled, "What do you think you're doing? I'm going to tell my father."

Harry laughed at this. He reached down and grabbed a comic and said, "I'm not scared anymore, and do you know why? I have powers, I was the one who hurt you today, now get out."

Dudley went pale and scrambled to his feet and out of his room. Harry laughed at him as he sat down on his cousin's bed. He had never felt better in his life; he had _power_. He could do things no one else could. He was feeling pretty good until his Uncle barged in, followed by his Aunt and cousin.

"How dare you say what you did to Dudley! You most certainly did not hurt him you filthy liar." Harry sighed.

"I heard you talking to Aunt Petunia about how I was getting dangerous. Which means it must've been me. Now I can have anything I want," said Harry, as he starred intently, wishing him pain and suffering, like he had with Dudley. It seemed like Vernon understood what Harry was doing as he closed his eyes and flinched. Nothing happened. Harry was shocked; he was sure he had this power; there was no other explanation for what had happened over the years. His uncle was also shocked, but got over it quicker. He grabbed Harry by his hair and dragged him out of Dudley's room, down the stairs, and threw him into the cupboard.

"You see, you idiot boy? You're worthless; you don't have any powers!" Vernon yelled. He then slammed the door and locked it.

Vernon turned from the cupboard, his face completely pale. He had been terrified when he realized that Harry was trying to do something to him, and honestly thought he was going to be hurt, and was beyond relief when Harry's magic failed. He wondered how the boy had managed to figure out he had powers; granted the clues were right in front of him. Not to mention he was a ten year old boy, and not a very bright one at that, either, not like his Dudley. He didn't understand why Harry would hurt Dudley in the first place. From what he understood from Dudley, he was nothing more than nice to him, at school that was, like he was told to be. In fact, Dudley had said he was getting rid of some bullies who were tormenting Harry, which was more than he deserved, when he had felt the pain. Perhaps the boy was psychotic and hurt anyone who tried to help him. There was a great conflict residing in Mr. Dursley; he could kick the boy out and be done with him, but if he did that then he would not receive the money he was getting from _their_ bank. While he did hate _them_, their money was very useful in giving his beloved son what ever he needed, and frankly, he didn't make enough money to do that. Vernon shook his head, getting his thought back on track. He couldn't imagine what the boy would do if he found out how to use his powers. His only choice was to never let the boy out of the cupboard unless it was to do chores. Vernon sighed. This was too much for him to deal with tonight; he went to bed, ready to deal with it tomorrow.

Harry sat in his cupboard, shocked. He was so sure that he had powers, he was still sure. Why hadn't they worked? Harry sighed. He had been a fool to try to take over the house without full knowledge of how to use his powers. He would now have to bide his time and train himself. He wasn't sure if they expected him to try again, or if they thought it was a one time thing. Harry wanted to train, but sleep sounded so much better. He decided he would do both, and began to train himself.

"Get up, boy! And fetch the mail."

Harry groaned as he was awoken from a rather good dream, though he couldn't quite remember what it was about. He got up and opened the door to his room. He closed it and looked into the kitchen to see his uncle and aunt staring intently at him. He ignored them as he went to the front door to pick up the mail. As he was walking back to the kitchen he sorted through the mail. His eyed fell upon a letter addressed to him. He quickly looked back up to see if his relatives were looking at him, and after seeing that they weren't, he quickly shoved the letter into his pocket. He wordlessly handed the rest of the mail to his uncle. Vernon looked up at his nephew and handed him a plate with a small amount of food on it.

"There," he said. "That's more than you deserve. Now get back into your room, I don't want to see you for the rest of the day unless I tell you to come out."

Harry shrugged as that was how most days went and it was beneficial to his training. Harry took his food to his room and sat down on his bed. He took the letter out of his pocket and began to read it as he ate his food. It fell out of his mouth by the time he finished it. He was a wizard? If that was true, then he was doing magic. He read it again so he was sure he didn't misread anything. There was a school that could train him; they had even sent him a list of items. As Harry red the list, he realized that this could be a prank. A wand, a caldron, where in could he get any of this? No, this was a prank. He looked at the front of the letter and saw that it was addressed to "Harry Potter in the cupboard under the stairs" which only strengthened the idea of it being a prank. Only Dursleys new he lived in the cupboard. It must have been Dudley; he always surprised Harry with some rather cunning ideas when he wanted revenge. The thing that gave it away was the name of the supposed school; Hogwarts. Who in their right mind would name a school after disgusting things that grew on the body of a hog? Dudley had probably forced someone with better hand writing to write for him. He somehow got his hands on the things needed to make a seal. Harry is angry, angry, but impressed. He tossed the letter and list of items into his trash can and lit it on fire with flick of his wrist. Harry smiled, this was the first thing, and only thing, he had taught himself to do. He had only gotten an hour of sleep, but it was worth it. He was going to teach himself to make things fly into his hands, but first he wanted to sleep. He was close to sleep when he heard,

"Boy, get up here!" Harry scowled and got up and went to open his door, but found it to be locked.

"What do you want?" Harry asked whoever was there, through the door.

"We're going out, so stay in there and don't come out!" Harry's Uncle Vernon said, gruffly. They woke him up to tell him to do exactly what he was going to do? That pissed Harry of, but he held it in, for when he exacted his revenge. Harry nodded and went back to his room. He heard the door slam behind him and lock. An idea formed in his mind; the summoning lesson would have to wait. He waited till he heard the car leave and then ran to the door. He put his hand where he knew the lock was on the other side. He closed eyes and felt the power within him; it was in his legs, his arms, his chest, even his toes. He made it all go into his hand. He willed the lock to unlock. He stood there for several minutes, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, he decided to try what he found the easy way.

"Unlock," He said, but once again, nothing happened. Harry glared at the door, as if it was its fault. He sat there for several minutes, trying to get it to work. Finally, he took a different approach. He relaxed and felt the power seep out of his hand. He imagined it going into the lock.

"Unlock," he said, more forcefully. It worked, sort of. The bar on the lock flew backwards and into the wall. Harry heard a "thunk" sound and exited his room to find the source of it. He groaned when he saw the ruined lock and the bar in the wall. He had put too much power into it, but perhaps he could repair things,. He knew it would take a while, but he was sure he could achieve it before the Dursleys came back. Fate, apparently, had a grudge against Harry, because the moment the thoughts left his head he heard a car pull up in the drive way. Harry started to panic. How was he going to explain this? Would he have to make another stand? No, the only thing he could do was burn, and if he used that he might light the house and doom everyone in it. Harry quickly realized that there was no easy way out of this; his best option was to lie and say he didn't know how it happened. He had recently pissed his uncle off a lot and was a bit afraid what he would do to him, but thought, at most, he would be thrown out of the house, which wasn't that bad really. He heard the door open and the Dursleys gasp at the sight of him out of the cupboard. He felt two meaty hands grab his shoulders and spin him around to face them.

"How did you get out?" Vernon said this very quietly, yet it was somehow more terrifying than when he yelled. Harry turned a bit pale; despite his powers he was still an eleven year old boy.

"I-I don't kn-know," Harry stammered, "One second the door was closed and the next-."

He didn't get to finish his sentence because his uncle slammed him into the wall.

"Oh no, boy. I've heard that story before." He didn't understand at first until he remembered his explanation for Dudley's pain. He groaned; now was not the best time for him to realize that he was a bad liar.

"Petunia, Dudley, go upstairs." Vernon hissed as he grabbed Harry, once again, by the hair. As he was dragged away he saw his aunt and cousin looking very scared, and knew he was in for a real beating.

Harry wondered what exactly his uncle was going to do to him he was thrown into the dinning room table, not breaking it but knocking it over.

"I'm sorry," Harry pleaded, really scared. "I didn't mean to."

His Uncle ignored him, his face completely purple. He grabbed Harry by his shirt and pulled him off the ground. Despite his girth, Vernon was very strong, and Harry, not having much to eat, wasn't very heavy. He threw Harry into a wall. Harry hit his head and almost lost consciousness for a second. Harry got up and tried to get away from Vernon. He ran towards the sliding glass doors. His hand was on the handle when he felt a hand on his back push through the glass doors, shattering them. Harry lay down on the grass, dazed. He felt something trickling down his arm. He brought his hands up to look at them, blood. He had cuts on them, as well as up and down his arm He tried to get up, but couldn't find the strength. He felt a shadow loom over him and looked up to see his uncle. Vernon spit upon Harry and snarled down at him,

"I'm done with you, boy. I'm tired of your freeloading and ungratefulness. I'm done with your freakishness. You are no longer welcome in my house." He said, and left.

Harry laid there, the shock wearing off of his body. He began to feel pain in his back, head, arms, and a little in his leg, but not that much. As his eyesight dimmed he thought he heard sirens, for a second he thought that perhaps someone had called an ambulance for him, but crushed his hopes immediately, the Dursleys wouldn't call one for him and no one was aware that he had just gotten beat up. He tried hard to stay conscious, he had to get away incase Vernon came back. He tried as hard as he could but couldn't get his body to move, he lay there and blacked out.

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AN: This is only my second story, so please R&R and tell me how I did.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Alright people, I bet you wondering why you've been told my story was updated when there is no new chapter. Well it's because I revised the end of chapter 2. To tell you the truth I lost interest in this story for a while, but I realized it was because of the way I rushed things in the end of the chapter. Anyway the new end it twice as long as the old one so enjoy. About chapter 3, revising this chapter really got the creative juices flowing so it should be done and posted tomorrow or the day after seeing as I have no beta. Actually I d, it's called Spell Check :).s Thank, and please R&R_

Harry woke up in a daze. He felt a soft bed under his body. However his first thought was to cry. They were not tears of sadness; they were tears of anger and frustration. How could a normal person like Vernon beat him _again_ using only brute strength when Harry had these magnificent powers? Crying made Harry feel weak, but he already felt weak from the beating he had taken. Only then did the softness register in his mind. He tried to sit up to look around the room he was in, but it hurt too much. Instead he turned his head left and right and moaned. All he saw was the same nightstand and lamp that had always been there; he was in his "room". He had hoped for a moment that the sirens he had heard had been for him, even if it was improbable. He then wondered why he was back in the house. He could clearly remember Vernon saying he wasn't welcome in the house anymore. Perhaps they just didn't want the neighbors to see his battered body on their lawn. He lay there in his bed, miserable, and since there was nothing else to do, he fell asleep. Harry woke up to a knocking on his door. He moaned and croaked, "I'm getting up."

A man he didn't recognize entered the cupboard.

Upon seeing Harry he stuck his head out the doorway and said, "Guys, you won't believe it, they put a kid in the cupboard and he looks pretty beat up, better call an ambulance."

He then turned to Harry and said, "Don't worry kid, we'll get you out of here."

This made Harry very angry; how dare they help him; he had to do this himself, with no one's help. Now it would be almost meaningless to leave. As the man approached him Harry recognized him as a police officer. He attempted to shy away from the man, but the man noticed and gave Harry a friendly smile.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help you."

This made Harry even angrier; he remembered all the times he went to a police officer and told them what was being done to him in his house. He remembered all the times they laughed at him and ignored him. He wanted to set fire to the man, but then questions would be asked as to where the fire came from. The police officer picked Harry up and carried him out, careful to not bang him on the doorway. Outside of his cupboard he saw police men all over the place. He also saw his Aunt and Uncle in the living room being questioned. They looked over and saw him, and Vernon's face got all red. Harry wondered why until he realized that his uncle probably thought that he had called the police. It was a ridiculous idea seeing as Harry had no access to a phone, but the idea of Vernon rotting in jail made Harry feel warm inside. Harry thought about if the Dursley's would even go to jail. After thinking about it he decided that the definitely would; Harry himself was living proof that they had beat a child if that was, in fact, what they were being arrested for. He gave Vernon a smile that said "I win" and smiled even wider as his Uncle tried to get up, but was pushed down by an officer. As the man carried him out he saw the crowed that had gathered, and heard the gasps as the crowd saw him and his battered body. Harry remembered his pain when the ambulance came and the paramedics put him on a stretcher. He hissed in pain as his body seemed to be lit on fire. They lifted the stretcher into the ambulance and drove off at once. One of the paramedics took off Harry's shirt and pants to look at all of his ills. His eyes widened as he saw the extent of Harry's injuries. This worried Harry because he could only imagine what paramedics saw everyday.

"What's wrong," Harry asked, "Is it that bad?"

The paramedic, realizing he had scared Harry, smiled warmly down at him and reassuringly said, "No, its not really that bad, its better than it looks. Sorry to have scared you."

Harry scowled and said, "I wasn't scared, just concerned."

The man smiled again and said, "Ya, of course you were."

Harry clenched his teeth. How dare this man talk to him in that damn condescending tone, just because he was a kid and hurt! He would show them one day that he was the strongest of them all, then they wouldn't pity him; they would fear him, as they should. But for now he would lie there and and let them fuss over his wounds and pity him. He started to think about what he would do and where he would go, after all he wouldn't have to stay with the Dursley's after this. He would most probably be sent to an orphanage. He would have to act like the perfect child if he wanted a family to take him home, which would need to happen. Harry refused to stay at a crappy, badly funded, orphanage for longer than he had to. He turned his head to the side to get more comfortable, as he imagined all the possibilities.

He saw that one of the paramedics had said something so he turned his full attention to him as he repeated, "I said are you in a lot of pain?"

Harry had been distracted by all of his thoughts, but now that the paramedic had mentioned it he felt the searing pain again. Harry nodded his head, temporarily unable to speak.

The paramedic turned to the other man and said, "Give him some morphine."

The other man took out a needle and put some liquid into it. He then turned to Harry and took one of his arms. Harry groaned in pain because the man had touched about every bruise he could with one hand. The man brought the needle towards Harry's arm, who was frantically trying to pull his arm back. The man meant to stab him with the needle!

"Jeez Bill, don't be so rough with him, he's just been through a hell of a day." Said the other medic

"I'd like to, but he keeps squirming his arm around."

"It's okay kid, he's not going to hurt you." Harry looked at him like he was an idiot,

"Are you stupid? He's going to stab my arm with that thing!" Harry croaked out of his parched mouth.

The paramedic sighed, "The kid's never seen a needle before, hell he's probably never been to a doctor, have you kid?" Harry's confused look was enough to answer his question. The man seemed to get angry and Harry wondered why; he didn't even know Harry, and he was angry because of what had happened to him.

"Don't worry about the needle, its going to help you OK?"

Harry was still suspicious, but these men seemed to want to help him so he nodded and stuck out his arm. "Bill", as he was called, took Harry's arm more gently and stuck the needle in his arm. It was a bit uncomfortable but it didn't hurt. Harry felt the pain fading. Then he felt pain coming back, except this time to his head, had they been trying to hurt him after all? Then Harry's body began to convulse and his world was one of pain. He faintly heard one of the man yell something about a seizure, and then his world was black. His last thoughts were, _I just can't catch a break, can I?_

Once again, Harry woke up in a soft bed and doubt quickly raced through his mind, as soon as he woke up. He kept his eyes shut, thinking that maybe his rescue had been a dream, after all, this bed felt like the one he had at home. But eventually he had to know so Harry opened his eyes. He sighed in relief as he saw unfamiliar surroundings. Anywhere was better than being at the Dursley's.

"Oh, you're awake are you?" Came a voice, right next to Harry's head. He looked over and saw a small woman standing next to him, fiddling with a bag which was hanging off some sort of metal stick. Harry tried to answer but his mouth has completely dry. The woman seemed to understand and gave him a glass of water that had been on a nightstand.

After Harry downed the whole glass, which must have been the best water in the world, he turned to the woman and asked, "Who are you? And where am I?"

She smiled at him and replied, "I'm your nurse, you can call me Veronica. As for where you are, your in the hospital." Harry frowned at the word, which he still did not know the meaning of.

"Hospital?"

The smile vanished from Veronica's face.

"Surely you know what a hospital is?" Harry shook his head, and the nurse, just like the man who had driven him here got angry, but not with Harry.

"A hospital is where we treat sick and hurt people." Harry felt a bit stupid since the definition was so simple.

While they had been talking, a man in a suit had entered, unnoticed by both. When they finished talking he walked up to the bed Harry was on and spoke,

"Ma'am, can you give me a moment with this boy?"

When she asked who he was he flashed something that seemed to look like a police badge. Harry was impressed to see that the sight of the badge cause the nurse to leave. The man then pulled up a chair and sat on it near Harry.

He was about to speak when Harry interrupted him, "What was that?" he asked.

"What was what?" the man responded.

"The thing you showed the nurse that made her leave." The man chuckled,

"It is a detective badge, would you like to see it?" Harry nodded and took the badge as it was handed to him. He stared in awe at the obvious simple of power, which made people do as the man said.

"Harry, can we talk about your Aunt and Uncle?"Harry hesitated, thoughts of his relatives reminded Harry of his many failures to breakout, but he nodded anyway.

"Harry, have your relatives ever mistreated you?" Harry snorted at the question,

"I thought it would be obvious be now."

"Well it is, but we still have to hear you say it." Harry sighed and took a deep breath,

"They rarely, if ever, fed me enough food to help me through all the chores they made me do and all the beatings they gave me. They kept me in a crammed up cupboard; I had no toys and could only wear Dudley's old clothes. They made me watch Dudley open all of his 50 presents every Christmas while I was lucky if I got a sock. Good enough for you sir?" The man nodded, seemingly unfazed by the description of Harry's life. He took out a notepad and wrote down what Harry told him.

"Anything else?" he asked Harry. To tell the truth, Harry didn't really want to tell his life story to this man because he was sure that if he did he would be pitied even more. On the other hand the Dursley's might not go to jail if he didn't tell the man about his life. Harry took a deep breath and began.

"I was told I was a worthless on a daily bases. I was hit for every mistake I made, whether it was making too much noise or breaking a plate. That wasn't so bad after a while, the worst part was school. Dudley got all the big and strong kids to be his friends, and then he would get them to beat me up almost everyday. He also made it known that if anyone befriended me, they would be beat up as well. I don't know why but even the teachers ignored me. Vernon and Petunia never made a show of hurting me in public, so the neighbors never got suspicious. Dudley would hit me all the time though, even if we were in public."

"Good. I think that's enough for now, you should try to get some sleep," the man said. As he left, he hesitated next to Harry's bed. He patted Harry on the shoulder and left. Harry was confuses; he he tried to hurt Harry? What had the pat meant? He continued to ask himself this until he fell asleep.

When Harry woke up again Veronica, his nurse, was just leaving. She saw him sit up from the corner of her eye. She turned around and smiled.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Harry couldn't help but smile back, she had been nothing but nice to him.

"I'm feeling better," he replied. The nurse continued to smile until she left the room. Not ten minutes later she came back, someone trailing behind her.

"Harry, you have a visitor." Needless to say, Harry was confused; who would want to visit him? Was it the Detective from yesterday? No, he would've just come in. Harry had absolutely no idea who would visit him, but he no longer needed to as his visitor walked into the room. He was an old man, very old from the looks of it. He had on strange clothes and a strange hat. In one of the pockets of the dress he had on, Harry thought he could see the handle to a nice looking wooden stick. When he looked at the man's face he had a twinkle in his eye as he smiled at Harry.

He turned to the nurse and said, "Could I have a moment alone with Harry please?"

She seemed a bit reluctant, but eventually she left. The man then sat down on Harry's bed and just smiled at him. Harry was starting to get a bit angry. Who was this man, what did he want? And why was he smiling at Harry so damn much? It was creepy. After the five minute awkward silence, Harry finally decided he had had enough.

He finally asked the old man, "Who the hell are you?"

The man frowned at his language, as if he was Harry father. When he frowned the twinkle left his eye, which Harry was grateful for; it was very distracting and annoying. Unfortunately, the man smiled again, as if nothing had happened, and answered Harry.

"You don't know me, but I know you, Harry. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am your grandfather."Harry's jaw dropped,

"My grandfather? I didn't know I had one," then a realization dawned on Harry, "Where have you been all this time?" Albus smiled sadly at Harry,

"I tried to gain custody of you Harry, but the muggle legal system is very strong, and there was never any proof that the Dursleys were treating you badly."

"Well why didn't you come visit me?" Harry said automatically. After he said it, Albus's words echoed back in his head,

"Wait, whats a muggle?" Harry's Grandfather smiled at him and said,

"A muggle is a normal person, someone without magic. You are a wizard Harry." Harry's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head,

"So that's what I am, a wizard. Are the powers I have magic then?" He asked, turning to Dumbledore.

He smiled at Harry and asked,

"What can you do with your powers?" Then he frowned, this seemed oddly familiar. Harry didn't notice this and, with a gleam in his eye, he told Dumbledore,

"I can jump really high when I'm being chased, I can make fire in my hand and push thing without touching them. I can hurt people who are mean to me." The last part was little more than a whisper, but Dumbledore heard it, and felt himself begin to sweat. Harry, meanwhile, was look sheepishly looking down at his thumbs, which he was twiddling.

"I knew I was different, that I was special, when I hurt Dud- when I first used my powers for what I wanted."

Now Dumbldore's original plan was to tell Harry he was his grandfather, despite not being it, tell him he was a wizard, and take him to Hogwarts. But right now he had to get out. This was all too familiar his memories were flooding into his head, ones that pertained to a certain Tom Riddle. He was reminiscing when Harry asked him something else,

"So the letter I got; it wasn't a prank?" Dumbledore forced chuckled, but the twinkle in his eye was nowhere to be found,

"I should hope not, or someone had been fooling me for many years." Harry then got excited; he would finally meet people as powerful and special as him. He just hoped there was no one his age more powerful than him.

"So there is a school called Hogbutt?" Dumbledore chuckled and the twinkle in his eye returned,

"It's Hogwarts, and yes there is. In fact, I am the headmaster there."

"When can I go?" Harry asked excitedly. He couldn't wait to learn new and more powerful magics. He only hoped that there were no kids his age that were more powerful than him. Dumbledore's eyes seemed to become sad, after all this boy was very exited, but Dumbledore doubted he could stand being in the vicinity of this boy for mush longer. The thought that he had, perhaps, chosen the wrong person to become his successor was an unwanted one. The boy looked nothing like Tom did, even back then, but what he had said was almost exactly what Tom had, word for word. That in itself was terrifying.

"Soon my dear buy, soon. But for now you must rest, and I must take my leave." He got up and smiled sadly down at Harry. He put a hand on his shoulder and softly said,

"I'm sorry." Then he walked away, leaving a confused Harry to absorb what he had been told. It was easier than it would've had he not known of his powers. After a bit of thinking Harry fell asleep.

Dumbledore was at a lose for what to do about Harry. He had placed all his hopes, and the future, in the boy, but now he thought he might have made a mistake. Perhaps not, Dumbledore thought, perhaps it was just a coincidence. He did not blame Harry for hurting his relatives after what they had done to him.

Of course, Dumbledore knew about it before hand, but had thought that Harry would be more likely to go to Hogwarts if his home life was terrible. Dumbledore decided that one meeting was not grounds for condemnation and that he would visit Harry several times to see what his character was like.

Harry and Dumbledore spent many days together at the hospital. They never really talked about Harry's life. They spoke mostly of Hogwarts, which led to crazy stories, which led to stories of Harry's father's antics. Harry couldn't remember laughing so much, or having so much fun. Dumbledore to was pleased, so far Harry had shown no sign of becoming evil as Tom had. He planned to take Harry to Hogwarts soon, he would make it look like a simple trip but then would keep Harry there. He couldn't risk something else happening to Harry.

"Harry, would you like to visit Hogwarts?" Harry looked surprised and elated, to say his smile spread from ear to ear would be an understatement.

"Ya I would, when can we go?"

"Right now if you want. Do you?" Harry quickly nodded his head.

"Alright now get out of bed. OK now hold onto my arm. Tighter, I don't want you to fall off." Dumbledore chuckled at his joke, where as it confused Harry, as many of the old man's jokes did. Dumbledore spun in his spot and Harry spun with him. Next thing Harry knew he was spinning around and around. Something was squeezing him so hard it was amazing he didn't explode. Then it was all gone and Harry found himself on all fours looking at a polished Marble floors, which didn't look so nice with vomit on them. Dumbledore chuckled at the the boys reaction and ,had it been anyone else, Harry would've gotten angry, but this was the man who saved him from an orphanage and told him about his parents. He just smiled weakly and got back up.

"So where are we going to go first? This place looks so big, can we really see it all in just one day?" Dumbledore smiled at Harry,

"We can certainly try Harry. And we are going to see the common rooms, starting with Gryffindor." Harry gave Dumbledore a confused look, who in turn gave Harry a confused look.

"Didn't I tell you about the houses?" Harry shook his head no, so Dumbledore motioned for Harry to follow him as he walked,

"Well there were four wizards who founded Hogwarts, all of them very powerful. There was Godric Gryiffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Each one had a House named after their last names. Children are sorted into each house depending on the character." Harry look thoughtful at this, and then asked,

"What characteristics?"

"Well, Harry, Gryffindors are courageous, Hufflepuffs are the most loyal, Ravenclaws are smart, and the Slytherins are cunning."

"So whats the point of the Houses?" Dumbledore looked surprised, as if no one had ever asked him that question before because, no had in fact asked him.

"They are to compete for the House Cup." Harry look thoughtful,

"But wouldn't that increase tensions with the kids and make them hate each other?"

"The teachers make sure nothing really bad happens. It's been this way since the founders Hogwarts and wizards like their ancient traditions." Harry decided to drop the subject seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere. They continued to walk in silence until they got to a giant painting. He wondered why they stopped when the woman in the painting spoke,

"Password?" She said in what sounded like a humorous tone of voice. Dumbledore chuckled,

"You know very well that there is no password this time of year. I'm merely showing young Harry Potter the Gryiffindor common room." At this the portrait swung open,

"Anything for The-Boy-Who-Lived." She said, Harry looked up at Dumbledore who waved away the question before it could be asked. Harry went into the room and looked around him in awe, the room was huge! Harry went to the couch and chairs and sat in each in turn, they were more comfortable than the hospital beds. He sighed in pleasure and fell asleep within seconds.


End file.
